Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Animal Sciences (9)
- Neuroscience and Neurobiology (9)
- Biology (8)
- Ornithology (4)
- Poultry or Avian Science (4)
-
- Behavioral Neurobiology (3)
- Cognitive Neuroscience (3)
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (3)
- Psychology (3)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (3)
- Behavior and Ethology (2)
- Computational Neuroscience (2)
- Animal Experimentation and Research (1)
- Animal Studies (1)
- Behavioral Disciplines and Activities (1)
- Biological Psychology (1)
- Biological and Chemical Physics (1)
- Cell Biology (1)
- Cell and Developmental Biology (1)
- Cognition and Perception (1)
- Developmental Neuroscience (1)
- Experimental Analysis of Behavior (1)
- Genetics and Genomics (1)
- Immunity (1)
- Immunology and Infectious Disease (1)
- Medicine and Health Sciences (1)
- Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience (1)
- Other Social and Behavioral Sciences (1)
- Physical Sciences and Mathematics (1)
- Institution
- Publication Year
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 21 of 21
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Neural Responses To Magnetic Orientation Information In Songbirds, Madeleine Ir Brodbeck
Neural Responses To Magnetic Orientation Information In Songbirds, Madeleine Ir Brodbeck
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Effective navigation and orientation is essential for animals to survive. The study of migratory birds provides insights into these processes, particularly through mechanisms like the geomagnetic compass, which uses Earth's magnetic field for directional information. A brain region in songbirds relevant to this is cluster N, known for its potential role in processing geomagnetic information. Notably, cluster N appears exclusive to nocturnally migratory birds, being active solely at night, and lesion studies reveal that an intact cluster N is necessary for geomagnetic compass orientation. However, given the scarcity of empirical data concerning cluster N, substantial questions persist regarding its function. …
Developmental Neurogenesis And Myelination Of Songbird Brains: Sex Differences, Hormones And Social Effects, Adriana Diez
Developmental Neurogenesis And Myelination Of Songbird Brains: Sex Differences, Hormones And Social Effects, Adriana Diez
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Song learning in songbirds typically happens during the first months after hatching, when the young bird is transitioning to sexual maturity and is more sensitive to extrinsic factors, such as acoustic experience, and intrinsic factors, such as changes in sex hormones. These factors influence the protracted song learning process that involves both behavioral changes at the song level and changes at the cellular level in the underlying neural structures of the vocal control system, the brain circuitry that allows song learning and production. However, the understanding of the neurogenic processes involved in the development of the vocal control system and …
The Effects Of High Temperatures On Mating Communication In Songbirds, Casey Marie Coomes
The Effects Of High Temperatures On Mating Communication In Songbirds, Casey Marie Coomes
Doctoral Dissertations
Due to climate change, animals around the globe are experiencing the negative impacts of hot temperature extremes. Hot temperatures can affect animals is by inducing behavioral changes. Some of these behavioral changes include reductions in important, fitness-related behaviors such as foraging and mating. One aspect of mating behaviors that high temperatures can impact is communication. In many systems, mating communication consists of a male signaler transmitting a signal to a female receiver, who then uses the signal to assess the male’s quality as a potential mate. High temperatures can impact this process at the level of the signaler, the receiver, …
Analyzing Avian Incubation With A Computer Algorithm, Tanya T. Shoot
Analyzing Avian Incubation With A Computer Algorithm, Tanya T. Shoot
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
A stable nest environment is necessary for incubation and development of offspring. Birds vary behaviour to regulate temperature for successful hatchlings. I used a hidden Markov model (HMM) to test how environmental conditions affect incubation behaviour. I examined nest temperatures and behaviours collected from Zebra finches that incubated at 30 °C or 14 °C, then incubated in the same or opposite condition for a second clutch. Data loggers and cameras recorded nest temperature and number of parents on nest. The HMM inferred behaviour from recorded behaviours and temperatures. Temperature and offspring success affected incubation duration. Birds that had successful offspring …
Social Influences On Songbird Behavior: From Song Learning To Motion Coordination, Iva Ljubičić
Social Influences On Songbird Behavior: From Song Learning To Motion Coordination, Iva Ljubičić
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Social animals learn during development how to integrate successfully into their group. How do social interactions combine to maintain group cohesion? We first review how social environments can influence the development of vocal learners, such as songbirds and humans (Chapter 1). To bypass the complexity of natural social interactions and gain experimental control, we developed Virtual Social Environments, surrounding the bird with videos of manipulated playbacks. This way we were able to design sensory and social scenarios and test how social zebra finches adjust their behavior (Chapters 2 & 3). A serious challenge is that the color output of a …
The Neural Mechanisms Underlying The Perception And Production Of Learned Vocalizations In Songbirds, Shannon Katie Mischler
The Neural Mechanisms Underlying The Perception And Production Of Learned Vocalizations In Songbirds, Shannon Katie Mischler
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Songbirds produce a wide array of vocalizations, including song, and learned and innate calls. Songs and calls can be functionally defined. Songs are typically used to attract potential mates and defend one’s territory, whereas calls are used for everything else, such as advertising the presence of a predator, or location of a food source, and maintaining contact with members of one’s flock. The purpose of this thesis was to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying call production and perception in two songbird species; the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) and the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). My objectives …
Studying The Mechanisms Of Developmental Vocal Learning And Adult Vocal Performance In Zebra Finches Through Lentiviral Injection, Zhimin Shi, Ofer Tchernichovski, Xiaoching Li
Studying The Mechanisms Of Developmental Vocal Learning And Adult Vocal Performance In Zebra Finches Through Lentiviral Injection, Zhimin Shi, Ofer Tchernichovski, Xiaoching Li
Publications and Research
Here we provide a detailed step-by-step protocol for using lentivirus to manipulate miRNA expression in Area X of juvenile zebra finches and for analyzing the consequences on song learning and song performance. This protocol has four parts: 1) making the lentiviral construct to overexpress miRNA miR-9; 2) packaging the lentiviral vector; 3) stereotaxic injection of the lentivirus into Area X of juvenile zebra finches; 4) analysis of song learning and song performance in juvenile and adult zebra finches. These methods complement the methods employed in recent works that showed changing FoxP2 gene expression in Area X with lentivirus or adeno-associated …
Finding A Link Between Circadian Rhythms And The Immune System Of Captive Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Guttata), Amber Bishop
Finding A Link Between Circadian Rhythms And The Immune System Of Captive Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Guttata), Amber Bishop
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
Circadian rhythms are commonplace in organisms and are normally controlled by a master clock. More recent evidence suggests that autonomous clocks operate in various systems in the body, including the immune system. This study looks for such a connection between the circadian rhythm and the immune system. In this study, captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were exposed to different light and dark cycles and blood samples were taken every six hours. Birds were exposed to 12 hours of light and then 12 hours of darkness (LD), 24 hours of darkness (DD), or 48 hours of DD. After collecting …
Rules And Mechanisms For Efficient Two-Stage Learning In Neural Circuits, Tiberiu Teşileanu, Bence Ölveczky, Vijay Balasubramanian
Rules And Mechanisms For Efficient Two-Stage Learning In Neural Circuits, Tiberiu Teşileanu, Bence Ölveczky, Vijay Balasubramanian
Publications and Research
Trial-and-error learning requires evaluating variable actions and reinforcing successful variants. In songbirds, vocal exploration is induced by LMAN, the output of a basal ganglia-related circuit that also contributes a corrective bias to the vocal output. This bias is gradually consolidated in RA, a motor cortex analogue downstream of LMAN. We develop a new model of such two-stage learning. Using stochastic gradient descent, we derive how the activity in ‘tutor’ circuits (e.g., LMAN) should match plasticity mechanisms in ‘student’ circuits (e.g., RA) to achieve efficient learning. We further describe a reinforcement learning framework through which the tutor can build its teaching …
The Cellular Context Of Estradiol Regulation In The Zebra Finch Auditory Forebrain, Maaya Ikeda
The Cellular Context Of Estradiol Regulation In The Zebra Finch Auditory Forebrain, Maaya Ikeda
Doctoral Dissertations
Estradiol, traditionally known as a hormone that communicates with distant cells in the body, is also synthesized locally in the brain to act as a neuromodulator. Neuromodulators differ from neurotransmitters in that they simultaneously affect a population of neurons and their actions are not limited to the synapse. One of the many effects of estradiol signaling is rapid modulation of auditory processing in response to external stimuli. The enzyme required for estradiol synthesis, aromatase, is highly expressed in the regions that are involved in higher-order processing of sounds in humans and songbirds. Since zebra finches, a type of songbird, are …
Finding The Beat: From Socially Coordinated Vocalizations In Songbirds To Rhythmic Entrainment In Humans, Jonathan I. Benichov, Eitan Globerson, Ofer Tchernichovski
Finding The Beat: From Socially Coordinated Vocalizations In Songbirds To Rhythmic Entrainment In Humans, Jonathan I. Benichov, Eitan Globerson, Ofer Tchernichovski
Publications and Research
Humans and oscine songbirds share the rare capacity for vocal learning. Songbirds have the ability to acquire songs and calls of various rhythms through imitation. In several species, birds can even coordinate the timing of their vocalizations with other individuals in duets that are synchronized with millisecond-accuracy. It is not known, however, if songbirds can perceive rhythms holistically nor if they are capable of spontaneous entrainment to complex rhythms, in a manner similar to humans. Here we review emerging evidence from studies of rhythm generation and vocal coordination across songbirds and humans. In particular, recently developed experimental methods have revealed …
Neural And Neuroendocrine Processing Of A Non-Photic Cue In An Opportunistically Breeding Songbird, Darcy K. Ernst, G. E. Bentley
Neural And Neuroendocrine Processing Of A Non-Photic Cue In An Opportunistically Breeding Songbird, Darcy K. Ernst, G. E. Bentley
Biology Faculty Publications
Recent studies of the onset of breeding in long-day photoperiodic breeders have focused on the roles of type 2 and 3 iodothyronine deiodinases (DIO2 and DIO3) in the conversion of thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3) and subsequent activation of the reproductive axis. It has been hypothesized that an increase in DIO2 and a reciprocal decrease in DIO3 causes the release of gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus, setting off a reproductive cascade, and that this DIO mechanism for GnRH release is conserved across vertebrate taxa. We sought to test whether social cues that are known to stimulate reproductive behaviors can …
Relative Importance Of Male Song On Female Mate Selection In The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia Guttata), Casey Sprague
Relative Importance Of Male Song On Female Mate Selection In The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia Guttata), Casey Sprague
Scripps Senior Theses
In the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), song and its social context play an important role in female mate selection. The song of the zebra finch is unique in that it can only be produced by males, which makes the species ideal for analyzing the components of male song that influence female song preference and mate selection. There are three consistent features of zebra finch song that affect female mate preference: 1) the amount of time a male sings, 2) the size and complexity of his song repertoire, and 3) the structural conformation to species or population norms (reviewed …
Neural Synchrony In The Zebra Finch Brain, Sydney Pia Goings
Neural Synchrony In The Zebra Finch Brain, Sydney Pia Goings
Scripps Senior Theses
I am interested in discovering the role of field potential oscillations in producing synchrony within the song system of the male zebra finch brain. An important function attributed to neural synchrony is sensorimotor integration. In the production of birdsong, sensorimotor integration is crucial, as auditory feedback is necessary for the maintenance of the song. A cortical-thalamic-cortical feedback loop is thought to play a role in the integration of auditory and motor information for the purpose of producing song. Synchronous activity has been observed between at least two nuclei in this feedback loop, MMAN and HVC. Since low frequency field potential …
Net Addition And Long-Term Survival Of Adult-Born Neurons In The Zebra Finch Hvc: Why Replace When You Can Keep Them All?, Clare Walton
Net Addition And Long-Term Survival Of Adult-Born Neurons In The Zebra Finch Hvc: Why Replace When You Can Keep Them All?, Clare Walton
Student Theses and Dissertations
The study of neurogenesis in adult songbirds focused initially on the canary, a species that learns new song elements each year. Many neurons in the canary song control nucleus, HVC, are discarded every year, with cell loss peaking at the end of the breeding season. New neurons numerically replace those that have died and this replacement process occurs at a time when vocal output is most plastic, suggesting adult neurogenesis may have a role in the learning process. It is not known, however, whether spontaneous neuronal replacement accompanies recruitment of new HVC neurons in the adult zebra finch, a species …
Lineage-Specific Patterns Of Functional Diversification In The Α- And Β-Globin Gene Families Of Tetrapod Vertebrates, Federico G. Hoffmann, Jay F. Storz, Thomas A. Gorr, Juan C. Opazo
Lineage-Specific Patterns Of Functional Diversification In The Α- And Β-Globin Gene Families Of Tetrapod Vertebrates, Federico G. Hoffmann, Jay F. Storz, Thomas A. Gorr, Juan C. Opazo
Jay F. Storz Publications
The α- and β-globin gene families of jawed vertebrates have diversified with respect to both gene function and the developmental timing of gene expression. Phylogenetic reconstructions of globin gene family evolution have provided suggestive evidence that the developmental regulation of hemoglobin synthesis has evolved independently in multiple vertebrate lineages. For example, the embryonic β-like globin genes of birds and placental mammals are not 1:1 orthologs. Despite the similarity in developmental expression profiles, the genes are independently derived from lineage-specific duplications of a β-globin pro-ortholog. This suggests the possibility that other vertebrate taxa may also possess distinct repertoires of globin genes …
A Synaptic Basis For Auditory-Vocal Integration In The Songbird, Eric E. Bauer, Melissa J. Coleman, Todd F. Roberts, Arani Roy, Jonathan F. Prather, Richard Mooney
A Synaptic Basis For Auditory-Vocal Integration In The Songbird, Eric E. Bauer, Melissa J. Coleman, Todd F. Roberts, Arani Roy, Jonathan F. Prather, Richard Mooney
WM Keck Science Faculty Papers
Songbirds learn to sing by memorizing a tutor song that they then vocally mimic using auditory feedback. This developmental sequence suggests that brain areas that encode auditory memories communicate with brain areas for learned vocal control. In the songbird, the secondary auditory telencephalic region caudal mesopallium (CM) contains neurons that encode aspects of auditory experience. We investigated whether CM is an important source of auditory input to two sensorimotor structures implicated in singing, the telencephalic song nucleus interface (NIf) and HVC. We used reversible inactivation methods to show that activity in CM is necessary for much of the auditory-evoked activity …
Thalamic Gating Of Auditory Responses In Telencephalic Song Control Nuclei, Melissa J. Coleman, Arani Roy, J. Martin Wild, Richard Mooney
Thalamic Gating Of Auditory Responses In Telencephalic Song Control Nuclei, Melissa J. Coleman, Arani Roy, J. Martin Wild, Richard Mooney
WM Keck Science Faculty Papers
In songbirds, nucleus Uvaeformis (Uva) is the sole thalamic input to the telencephalic nucleus HVC (used as a proper name), a sensorimotor structure essential to learned song production that also exhibits state dependent responses to auditory presentation of the bird’s own song (BOS). The role of Uva in influencing HVC auditory activity is unknown. Using in vivo extracellular and intracellular recordings in urethane-anesthetized zebra finches, we characterized the auditory properties of Uva and examined its influence on auditory activity in HVC and in the telencephalic nucleus interface (NIf), the main auditory afferent of HVC and a corecipient of Uva input. …
Supplementary Figure 1, Melissa J. Coleman, Arani Roy, J. Martin Wild, Richard Mooney
Supplementary Figure 1, Melissa J. Coleman, Arani Roy, J. Martin Wild, Richard Mooney
WM Keck Science Faculty Papers
Supplemental data for "Thalamic Gating of Auditory Responses in Telencephalic Song Control Nuclei."
Synaptic Transformations Underlying Highly Selective Auditory Representations Of Learned Birdsong, Melissa J. Coleman, Richard Mooney
Synaptic Transformations Underlying Highly Selective Auditory Representations Of Learned Birdsong, Melissa J. Coleman, Richard Mooney
WM Keck Science Faculty Papers
Stimulus-specific neuronal responses are a striking characteristic of several sensory systems, although the synaptic mechanisms underlying their generation are not well understood. The songbird nucleus HVC (used here as a proper name) contains projection neurons (PNs) that fire temporally sparse bursts of action potentials to playback of the bird's own song (BOS) but are essentially silent when presented with other acoustical stimuli. To understand how such remarkable stimulus specificity emerges, it is necessary to compare the auditory-evoked responsiveness of the afferents of HVC with synaptic responses in identified HVC neurons. We found that inactivating the interfacial nucleus of the nidopallium …
Radio-Biotelemetry Studies Of Circadian Body Temperature Rhythms And Activity Levels [Of The] Zebra Finch (Peophilia Guttata), Vaughan Arthur Langman
Radio-Biotelemetry Studies Of Circadian Body Temperature Rhythms And Activity Levels [Of The] Zebra Finch (Peophilia Guttata), Vaughan Arthur Langman
University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations
The object of this study was to determine the normal thermoregulatory patterns of zebra finches (Poephilia guttat) in as near a normal physiological and behavioral state as possible. Surface body temperature and level of activity were the two primary channels of information. Radiobioelemetry allowed the reduction of external disturbance during long periods of continuous recording.